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That’s hilarious. I don’t understand how anybody could shoot a free throw that bad, especially a guy who shoots free throws virtually everyday. Maybe down under in New Zealand they approach free throws from a different perspective.
Duke certainly seems to be the juggernaut this year; in our two most successful seasons, we ran into the “juggernaut” in the final. We were, at least, pretty close to Louisville, but they looked like the best team for the entirety of the postseason.
The good news is that if we charge deep enough into the postseason to get Duke, we actually saw Williamson straight-up defended pretty well here. He’ll still get his, but his first half was built on a couple of turnover scores that a lot of guys could have gotten and a three-pointer. It’s possible that Matthews can stay in front of him in similar fashion; it is unlikely that the rest of the team will ever shoot like that again.
The bad news is that Michigan can’t beat Duke scoring 1.00 per possession.
I think Gonzaga is right up there with Duke.
Watch poor Salt throw his hands up in frustration after the miss. That’s so funny.
Zion got hurt in the first minute of the game. UNC jumped right on them. Anytime duke has looked like closing in, UNC has gone on another run. A lot of turnovers in this game
Hopefully this Carolina beat down is giving our players a little extra confidence going into Minnesota tomorrow.
Under 8 minutes to go, Reddish and Barrett have combined for 49, the other 3 Dookies that have managed to score have combined for 8 points. Not a pretty game to watch
$6800 people were reportedly paying for floor seats to this Duke/UNC match. Wonder if they’ll feel they got their money’s worth?
Now that I’ve written this Duke will stage a record-setting deficit-overcoming win and the answer will be yeah.
Those two are scoring a ton, but they don’t look to be getting others involved. But most of Duke’s offense seems to be coming off transition and it half court sets, so that could be the reason.
That UNC win was a very very good win for the resumé
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Zion Williamson, Killian Tillie, Nick Ward, Reid Travis all key injuries at a crucial time in the season for top teams.
Never have been sold on Duke as a “clear favorite” this year personally. Only got 3 guys that score. Now two. Don’t have any depth at all. Even less than Michigan and less scoring options (although their 3 are probably better) and play pretty sub par defense. Zion masked a lot of their defensive woes inside protecting the rim. Duke is so fragile even with Zion they will need a even luckier run than Michigan in my opinion. They have 3 of the best players in the country, maybe 4, but then the drop off after them is so immense it’s insane. And it’s not like those other guys were scrubs coming out of high school. Can almost bet many of them were higher ranked prospects than most the Michigan team barring maybe Iggy and Matthews.
Agreed, but handling va twice had me questioning my original thoughts.
To add to that, this year seems wide open imo. Last year felt that way too but nova was considered by many the top squad,
I don’t see a clear cut top team.
I think you’re seriously underrating them with Zion. Williamson is an absolutely dominant player, and their performance with him on the floor basically speaks for itself.
Yeah, they’re vulnerable if he gets hurt (one can only read so much into this game, you don’t gameplan to lose a guy 30 seconds in, and he was the guy that was supposed to guard Maye). They’re vulnerable if Reddish or Barrett gets hurt, too, because of how shallow they are. But teams win with bigger flaws than that. At their peak, which they hit a fair amount, it’s hard to see them lose.
Williamson’s injury appears to be minor. Obviously, everything changes if he isn’t 100%.
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So if Zion or RJ get in foul trouble early and battle that issue wire to wire with refs who are like the ones Michigan had vs Penn State or Iowa, combined with a night where they are way off shooting the ball which is normal for them, versus a Kentucky, Tennessee, etc, wouldn’t be a issue? Idk I just think they need too many things to go their way and if something don’t then it’s curtains. Which is ridiculous because they have 4 Mcdonalds All Americans I think I read and multiple other top 100 players. Their top 5 is the best in the country but after that it’s not good which is insane. I think Coach K killed the confidence of all the guys not named Zion, RJ, Cam or Tre. Nobody else is really capable/confident enough to go takeover a game. They all look damn near scared to try. If Zion chooses to shut it down now too then it’s a wrap for them and that’s hilarious for all the talent they possess.
Thought this was funny but semi true.
I agree that Duke is a thin team and the confidence of the not top 4 guys is probably at a low… my hot take is that Bolden emerges as a legit player to fill some of the Zion void for the next couple weeks. Unfortunately, bc it is Duke, I see them as a better team come tournament time because of this: Bolden is bigger contributor and Zion is back to 100%
The market on UNC-Duke tickets at Cameron are always crazy. People went nuts this year because everyone thinks it’s the Zion affect.
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